Rebuilt wooden shoe lasts



Feb. 24, 1959y c. H. HEITMAN REBUILT WOODEN SHOE LAsTs Filed May 29, 1957 /A//ENTO 1Q: CLARENCE f/.HE/TMAN,

United States Patent j "ce 21 i -227342394 Yf v -nnnUn/r wooDEN sHoE LAsrs l Clarence H. Heitman, Brentwood, Mo.

Application May 29, 1951, serial No. 662,441

z claim. (ci. 12-130 This invention relates to rebuilding wooden shoe lasts.

In the industry, it has been found to be increasingly costly to obtain suitable wood material to form shoe lasts for use in the manufacture of shoes. inasmuch as shoe styles and designs undergo constant changes and the major number of such changes occur in the toe section of the shoe, a. substantial saving may be made by substituting a new toe section,` instead of replacing the entire forepart of the last.

The usual practice has required the discarding of the forepart of the last and cutting an entire new forepart to be substituted in the original last, entailing not only the expense of the material for the entire new forepart' but, in addition, the expense of cutting to contour the entire substituted part from a new wood block.

In some instances, efforts have been made to save material by retaining a portion of the forepart of the last and replacing only a toe section for the part removed from the original last, but such practice has been unsatisfactory because it has been difiicult to rebuild lasts in this manner to give sufficient strength to the last to withstand the strains imposed on the last in shoe making.

The problem, therefore, includes the production of a rebuilt last that may be produced economically, which will withstand the strains imposed on the last `in use by imparting to the rebuilt last a strength substantially equal to the strength of a last in which the forepart is originally formed as a unit.

A general object of the invention, therefore, is to provide such a last that will save labor and material and in which the parts may be assembled and the toe portion finished to contour in an economical manner, thereby producing a rebuilt last that will hold up in service to substantially the same extent as will a last originally formed of a unitary forepart section, which is made from a single block of wood.

The structure of such a rebuilt last and the method of making it will clearly appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a rebuilt last incorporating reinforcing structure in the forepart, such reinforcing structure being indicated in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line Z-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 3--3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating the reinforcing link which is employed to tie the new toe part to the forepart of the shoe body;

Figure 5 is a side view partially in section of the front portion of a forepart of the shoe last formed preparatory to the attachment of the new toe section;

Figure 6 is a similar view partially in section to illustrate the manner in which one end of the reinforcing link is seated and connected with the portion of the forepart of the last; Y I

Figure 7 is a top plan view of the wood vblock from 2,874,394 Patented Feb. 24, 1959 which the new toe portion is formed, showing in dotted lines the means for mounting Vthe reinforcing structure therein; and v Figure 8 is a side view` partially in section of the wood block from which the new toe section is to be formed. In the embodiment of the invention as illustratedin the drawing, by reference to Figure 1, it will be noted that the rebuilt last includes a rear section 1 and a portion 2 of an original forepart of the conventional wooden hinged shoe last. The toe section of the original fore part ofthe last has been removed by severing it from the original forepart of the last by a saw cut that preferably forms an angular face generally indicated at 3, and preferably having the lower portion 4 of the angular face substantially vertical with a forwardly inclined surface 5. The vertical surface 4 is relatively short, but the surface 5 inclines upwardly a suicient distance to form an overhanging shoulder with suicient material above the apex of the angular surface to resist vertical strains at the joint between the new toe section and the remaining part of the forepart of the old last piece.

After the toe section has been removed and the forward face formed as described, a slot 6 is formed preferably positioned as shown at the apex of the angle of the face. This slot extends into the body of the forepart a limited distance, and a transverse bore 7 is formed in the body near the rear end of the slot.

A block of wood material has its rear face formed to present an angular surface complementary to the surface of the forward face of the block Z. This new block 8, when its rear surface has been formed, has the angular face including a vertical part 9 and a forwardly inclined surface 10 that match the forward angular face of the remaining portion of the forepart of the last. This block has formed therein a slot 11 that matches with the slot 6, and also has a transverse bore 12 lying at the forward end of the slot 11.

After the forward face of the part 2 and the rear face of the block 8 have been formed and before the block 8 is machined and cut to the required contour of the new toe section, a reinforcing link 13 having openings 14 adjacent each end thereof is inserted in the slots 6 and 11 and a pin 15 is inserted through the bore 7 and passes through one of the openings 14 in the reinforcing bar 13. The forward end of the bar 13 is then inserted into the slot 11, and the matching faces 3 and the rear face of the member 8 are brought together, after a layer of cement or other suitable adhesive material has been applied to the matching surfaces as indicated at 16, and a second pin 15 is then inserted through the bore 11 and through the opening 14 at the forward end of the bar 13.

This draws the parts closely together and reinforces the connection between the two in such a manner that the toe part of the last is securely held in place and provides sucient strength to resist normal strains imposed on the last in use.

After the parts have been connected as described, it is only necessary to machine the block 8 to the desired contour to re-form Athe contour of the toe section of the last,

From the above description, it will be understood that thereV is a substantial saving in material; that the parts can be readily and securely assembled and held together; and that the cutting operation for the new toe portion of the forepart of the last can be readily accomplished by standard equipment.

In addition, if it is desired to make further changes,

4 the construction lends itself to being disassembled and 3 What isclairned is: 1. A rebuilt wood s'hoelast including a recut angular face in the forepart of lthe last to 'provide `a Jtransverse vertical wall extending normal to the tread surface of the last .and an upward inclined wall extending to the' top "face of .the toe section of the last', 'a recut forepart to provide a complementary angular face tted into the recut angular face of the forepart of the last, aligned coextensive slots formed in the forepart of the last and the recut toe section respectively, said slots extending longitudinally inside the last, 'a "link bar disposed within said slots in concealed relation Vand joining the forepart and toe sections, said link bar having openings in the opposite ends thereof, transverse openings :in said forepart and toe sections of the last, and a dowel'pin 4seated in each o'f said transverse openings and through said openings in said link, respectively.

2. .A .febunf snee las; as donned vin claim f1 in when the link bar is metal and of rectangular shape, which bar lextends -a substantial 'distance fore yand Iaft of the last body to constitute a strongjonnection between and reinforcement for the recut t'e and recut forepart of the last.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED s'rATEsPATENTs 

